When Dreams Become Real
by charcol
Summary: Soul Society is in chaos and Hinamori has been kidnapped! Will she turn to the dark side or can Hitsugaya save her in time?
1. I The First Chapter

**Chapter I - **The First Chapter

It was a bright sunny day as it always seems to be in soul society and tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro was running down a street towards the 1st division house. The alarm had sounded and he was racing there to find out what was going on. Hitsugaya skidded to a halt and took a few steps backward. He peered around the corner where he thought he saw…

'You sure it's this way?' Zaraki grunted.

'Nya huh! Of course it is!' his pink haired lieutenant squealed.

'Oi!' Hitsugaya tried to yell after them, but to no avail. 'Oh well, they can find their own way,' and he started off again, leaping to the roof of the adjacent white building.

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Hinamori woke with a start. 'No, taichou!' She'd had the dream again. Shaking her head, trying to forget the livid images, she realised what made her wake. The alarm was sounding and Hinamori could hear footsteps outside her room. Rubbing her eyes she made her way outside to find out what was going on, only to crash into a very annoyed, but familiar face.

'Shirou-chan! Shirou-chan, what's going on?' Hinamori asked from her seat on the ground.

He glared at her, getting to his feet, dusting off his sleeves.

'Don't call me that!'

He was irritated today it seemed. His lieutenant had run off yet again and left him with all the work, and when he though he could finally get some rest, the alarm has to ring! Could his day get any worse? Apparently so, as a courier stopped, jogging on the spot in front of them.

'Hitsugaya-taichou, Hinamori-fukutaichou, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni-sama has called an emergency meeting for all captains!' and before Hinamori could ask about her, the courier had run off, probably looking for Kenpachi and Yachiru who were currently on the other side of Seireitei. How? I have no idea.

'Shiro-chan, what's happened?' Hinamori picked herself up off the ground. He was staring into the distance.

'I don't know, but it sounds bad. Hinamori, get together with the other lieutenants, surely they're meeting somewhere, and watch your back.' And then, he left.

Hinamori was still in a daze, standing in the middle of the paved street, thinking about her dream. The dream that she knew all too well. If only it was real…

She snapped back to reality and shook her head. 'Come on,' she told herself, 'I have to find the others.'

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Renji and Kira stood in a corner of the wooden room, wondering, just like everyone else what was going on. Kira spotted the girl that just had entered the room and beckoned the 5th division lieutenant over. 'Hinamori!' Renji exclaimed, 'd'you have any idea what's going on?'

She shook her head. 'No clue.'

All the lieutenants were there, except for Yachiru, who was of course, lost with her captain, but of course shortly, she turned up as well.

The 1st division vice cleared his throat and began to speak.

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'Surely, you must be mistaken.' Ukitake said upon hearing Yamamoto's announcement.

'My data is never wrong!' Mayuri snapped back. 'I'm telling you, there are three unauthorized beings in Seireitei!'

'But who would it be, Kurotsuchi?' Hitsugaya was getting very annoyed. This wasn't a good day to start an argument.

'Who else?' Mayuri hissed in reply.

Kenpachi left the formation and started walking towards the door. 'Who cares? I'll take 'em out.'

'Zaraki!' Yelled the tenth division captain.

'Leave him be,' came Yamamoto's authoritarian voice. 'But we will take this seriously. Twice in the history of soul society has Seireitei been breached. This is not a light matter.'

Shunsui blinked. 'Could it be Ichigo and friends again?'

The old bearded man shook his head. 'He has permission to enter soul society, there would be no reason for him to sneak in.'

Several of the captains nodded in agreement.

'My instruction is this, all squads must be dispatched on full alert, no less than when the last ryoka entered. Make sure every head is accounted for. The lieutenants are currently being informed of the exact procedure. Unohana, make room in your wings. Let's just hope it doesn't get that bad.'

There was silence for a few moments, until the captains started filing out and Yamamoto's words started to sink in. That's when Hitsugaya really started to worry about her. Hinamori, that is.

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She walked alone on the deserted pathway, thinking about what was going to happen next. The fifth division was still without a captain and completely disorganized. She had tried to sort them out as best as she could but it hadn't really been working. What they needed was another captain. One that could command and they would obey. A captain like him…

Hinamori paused when she heard the shuffle from around the corner. Her hand instinctively flew to Tobiume's hilt. The grip only tightened when the large shadow of a person came from around that corner. The soft footsteps stopped in the centre of the road, facing Hinamori, and although she couldn't make out the features on the silhouette, there was only one person it could have been.

'No,' she whispered, feelings of déjà vu flooding her, 'It can't be.'

It was too much like her dream…

_To be continued_

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Well there it is. After reading a lot of fics here I thought I should write my own. Please, any constructive criticism would be helpful. If there's anything you loved or hated please tell me. Thanks Hope you liked it.

PS. Just in case you haven't figured it out, I don't own Bleach and I don't claim to either. Also, I don't have any money so unless you want to sue me for $2 it would be a bit pointless.


	2. II The Chapter After One

**Chapter II – **The Chapter After The First One.

Hitsugaya's first thoughts upon leaving the 1st division headquarters were of Hinamori. She no longer had a captain to look after her and the squad itself was in chaos. He had to protect her, especially if those three were back. But then he remembered that he had a squad to look after as well. 'Matsumoto, could she be trusted to direct them on her own?' he thought.

Images suddenly flashed in his mind of his vice-captain, very drunk and very incapable of the workload. 'Dammit' he said under his breath, and hoped his childhood friend could look after herself for a few extra minutes. The short tensai then made his way to where the vice-captains had met, hoping to come across either Hinamori or Matsumoto.

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'It can't be,' she whispered under her breath, but there was no mistaking the glint of those glasses. 'Aizen… taichou?'

'Hinamori-kun, you look well'

Her eyes widened and her hand released its grip on the zanpakuto. 'No, but, you…' she faltered in making a sentence.

'Hinamori-kun, you would never believe-'

'NO!' she cut her former captain off before he could go any further. In a rage of fury she whipped out Tobiume and held it ready. 'No! You aren't Aizen-taichou! He wouldn't… you're an impostor!'

He made no move to defend himself against her unsheathed weapon, but instead his glasses flashed in the afternoon sun. 'Hinamori-kun, how long has it been since you had a decent night's sleep?'

With that, she charged. 'AAAAARGH! Aizen-taichou!' and a fraction of a second later, before she realised what had happened, she was standing there with her sword infront of her, an inch away from cutting into the large man that stood there.

_No, what am I thinking!_ she said mentally and let out a small gasp. _This was her captain. Why was she attacking him?_

Aizen allowed himself a grin.

_No… no! This can't be Aizen taichou! He … he betrayed soul society!_

Her eyebrows were creased as she struggled with the thoughts. Her mind felt like a dam that was about to burst.

'Hinamori-kun,' he spoke in that ever so soft voice of his, 'you look unwell, allow me to help you.'

A solitary tear rolled down her face. His voice was so enchanting that she felt her mind slipping in and out of consciousness. She barely noticed the clang of her sword hitting the pavement.

_No…it can't…be…_

Aizen leaned over the girl that was now unconscious on the ground.

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Hitsugaya was so immersed in thought that he barely noticed when he ran into something. What made him notice was a loud whoop from his vice-captain. What he noticed was that he had run into her.

'Well speak of the devil, here he is!' she laughed gaily. She and Kira were standing in the middle of the street for no apparent reason.

'Matsumoto,' he paused, getting his bearings, 'what are you doing here?'

She looked up at the sky thoughtfully. 'Hmmmm, well you see…… that's a very good question taichou!' she beamed at him.

Hitsugaya and Kira looked at her blankly. 'She's drunk again, taichou,' Kira explained.

_Well, big surprise there_, he thought.

The blonde continued, 'I was wondering what I was supposed to be doing, since, you know, with what happened to my captain and all …'

'Mmm,' Hitsugaya prompted.

'So Matsumoto said she would be able to help me out with the third squad and somehow we ended up here.'

Hitsugaya then decided that he didn't want to know what happened in between. Exactly how long had their meeting gone for?

'Ok,' he decided, speaking to Kira, 'Gather the tenth and third divisions, send messengers if you must. Join them together, you know your orders?'

'We got them at the meeting sir–'

'Good, take her with you,' indicating to his fukutaichou that was now sprawled on the floor, 'she'll sober up soon, I think she has immunity to sake or something now…'

'But what about you taichou?'

Hitsugaya looked at Kira's disbelieving face. 'Going to look for Hinamori.' And with that, he hurried off.

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As it turns out, finding Hinamori is a lot harder than it sounds. After coming across three dead ends, he decided to go by rooftop. Now he knew why Zaraki was always so tense. _Think, you fool, clear your mind! _ He had said to himself after staring at the third white wall infront of him. But that too, was proving to be far more difficult than it was supposed to. Thoughts were clouding his vision, and after almost slipping on a loose tile, he decided to stop for a moment. That's when he heard the vulgar yelling to his left.

'Oi! You there! Yes, you, get over there. The gate has to be sealed, now!'

Hitsugaya spun around to see the red-headed Renji order the sixth division around. Byakuya stood a small distance behind him, impassive, his scarf fluttering in the slight breeze.

Hitsugaya jumped down from the rooftop, landing lightly on the pavement. Byakuya shifted his eyes to rest on him.

'Have you seen Hinamori?' Hitsugaya got straight to the point.

The captain didn't respond but instead his eyes shifted to the back of his lieutenants flaming head. As if Renji could sense this, he turned around.

'Yeh,' he said, 'Hinamori? She went over that way, Hitsugaya-taichou,' roughly indicating further North. Byakuya gave a curt nod, which Hitsugaya returned and sprang back onto the rooftop, heading more to the north this time.

Hitsugaya soon found himself in an old part of Seireitei that was mainly used for housing, but since all of the squads were out doing one thing or another, the place was practically deserted. 'Damn Renji,' he cursed under his breath, mentally reminding him never to listen to the red-head again. That was when he noticed the movement in the corner of his eye. Hitsugaya looked down in disbelief. The man looking back up at him was exactly the same as the old Aizen he knew long ago, from the fifth division captain's haori to the rectangular rimmed glasses, but in his arms was…

'Hinamori!' he gasped.

Aizen held back a chuckle. 'Yes, dear, sweet Hinamori.'

'Give her back, Aizen you bastard!'

'You have to claim her back if she's yours.' Aizen smirked at Hitsugaya's growing annoyance.

'Why, you..!' He leaped off the building. 'Souten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!'

Out of nowhere, the freezing ice dragon lunged, at such incredible speed, freezing everything in its path in a matter of seconds. It headed directly towards Aizen who, Hitsugaya just realised, still had Hinamori in his arms…

_To be continued_

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Ah, thank you very much for reading! Please tell me how I can make it better or what you liked/disliked. I'd appreciate any feedback : )


	3. III The Chapter that Comes Third

**Chapter III **– The Chapter That Comes Third

Hitsugaya slowly opened his eyes. He felt the cold stone wall behind his back, and from his position, slumped on the ground, he saw shinigami running here and there amongst the wet rubble of the street. There was no sign of Hinamori or Aizen.

'Damn,' he breathed as his vision slipped. The last thing he saw at that scene was Unohana bending over him.

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The next time Hitsugaya opened his eyes he was under a blanket in the fourth division house. Sitting in the corner was his lieutenant, a worried expression plastering her face.

'Taichou!' she started when he tried to sit up.

Hitsugaya analysed his wounds. A few bandages around his head with patches here and there, but he assumed that it was nothing too serious since he was still, well, dead.

Just as Matsumoto started to get up, Unohana came in through the rice paper door.

'Ah, Hitsugaya, you're awake. I was starting to get a bit worried there.'

'No need Unohana, I'm fine,' he said, brushing some dust off his sleeves.

'Well in that case,' Unohana said, smiling, 'you must be hungry. Yamamoto is curious as to what happened, as we all are. Would you care to enlighten us over lunch?'

'I suppose, if we can't do anything else,' he agreed.

A few moments later, Hitsugaya, his lieutenant and Unohana were seated around a small table. Hitsugaya then confirmed soul society's fears.

'So it was Aizen?' gasped Matsumoto in shock. 'He was in Seireitei?'

'It would seem that way,' said Unohana, taking another sip from her cup.

Hitsugaya nodded, 'I didn't see much or find out much but I know that…' he took in a deep breath, coming to terms with what he had seen. 'He had Hinamori.'

It was Unohana's turn to nod this time. 'We were going to tell you, she was missing from the role call after the incident. Can you tell us anything else that happened?'

Hitsugaya stared at the food infront of him. 'I called out Hyourinmaru, but I had let my guard down. He defeated me easily.'

Unohana understood. She made to stand, 'I'll report this to Yamamoto-sama so that you can get some rest. Shitsurei shimasu.' And she left Matsumoto with her captain.

Matsumoto looked at the boy's hand to see that it was now a fist, trembling on the table. 'What if I had gotten there earlier? If I hadn't let my guard down? I couldn't protect her–'

'Hush now,' Matsumoto interrupted, 'you did what you could.'

Nevertheless, Hitsugaya's mind was still beating himself up.

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Hinamori looked about her. Where was she? The room was dark. Was it nightfall already?

'Have a good sleep, Hinamori-kun?' a voice came from the corner.

She looked around, 'Aizen-taichou!'

He was sitting at a table at the far end of the room with his back to her and it seemed like he was writing something.

_Ah, memories…_

But now that she thought about it, it was the first decent night's sleep that she had in a long while.

_That dream wasn't there._

However, something twigged in the back of her mind.

_I tried to attack him. I almost cut Aizen-taichou! That had never happened in my dream._

'Aizen…taichou?'

'Don't worry, Hinamori-kun. You're safe here.' He turned to face her.

'No! NO, I was safe before! Where am I? Where have you taken me?' she yelled.

'You didn't belong there,' he raised his voice, but only in the slightest, to make her listen.

She shook her head, 'No! That was my home! My friends–'

'Didn't care,' he finished. 'None of them noticed your reiatsu when you unsheathed Tobiume. None of them came to your aid when you were in distress.'

'No!' she yelled again. 'No, they're my friends!'

'You looked so alone when I found you.'

Hinamori's eyes widened. _No, I'm not alone. I can't be._ Tears started to form under her eyelids until a solitary tear rolled down her cheek, wet and warm. After that, they increased in number, spilling from her eyes and falling to the blanket that she was under. Aizen remained silent until she eventually fell asleep once again.

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Matsumoto was recounting the events before the incident and Hitsugaya, for the most part, listened, but there was a tiny part of his brain that kept chiding himself.

_If only you hadn't hesitated._

'Well, I was almost completely sober and with Kira. He was telling me what you had told him you see,'

Hitsugaya nodded.

'–and then we felt this enormous reiatsu. Of course, I knew it had to be you, but Kira stayed behind, just in case the intruder happened to be in that sector. So I was running in your direction. Actually, half of Seireitei was running in your direction, it was such a sudden bust, but Kuchiki-taichou got there first with his shunpo since he was the closest. I think he wanted to get revenge if it was Aizen, well, if someone tried to kill my li'l sister like that–'

'Ahem,' Hitsugaya interrupted.

'Oh yes, well, when we got there, the place looked like a cyclone had hit it! Really, taichou, you should keep your battles cleaner. There was water and rubble everywhere. Anyway, we saw you slumped against a wall unconscious, so we sent for Unohana-taichou right away! It looked like you had been slammed up against the wall. It was horrible, there was so much blood coming from under your hair, poor Nanao-chan was almost sick. E, to… that's pretty much it, taichou. They started cleaning the place up and took you here so that you could tell us what had happened, and Yamamoto is going to open an inquiry lead by Soi Fon,' the orange-haired lieutenant explained.

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Hinamori woke up in that same room under the same blankets, the only difference being that it was now daytime and light made its way into the room. She rubbed her bleary eyes and looked about. Aizen was nearby with a plate of food.

'Hungry?' he asked.

It was then Hinamori realised how long it had been since she had ate, especially since she had been giving off so much reiatsu. _ She had been using so much reiatsu at that time…why didn't anybody sense it?_

'Shirou-chan would have been able to sense it, ne Aizen-taichou? My reiatsu, I mean.'

'Of course, Hitsugaya is of captain status after all,' he replied.

_Then why didn't he come for me?_

'Shirou-chan… seemed annoyed that morning… he told me to watch my back…'

_Maybe he just figured someone else could save me? Or that I should be more independent? Should I have relied on him so much?_

'Maybe that's it.'

_I didn't mean to annoy him…_

'I'm going to become more independent, Aizen-taichou.'

_That way I won't bother him._

Aizen flashed the girl a look of understanding. Sitting beside her and offering her an onigiri he said, 'You do whatever you think is right, Hinamori-kun.'

She looked resolute. 'Then I will. Please help me Aizen-taichou.'

Hinamori didn't see the slight smile on his face. 'I will Hinamori-kun. I would always try to help you…'

_To be continued_

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I enjoyed writing that. I hope you liked reading it just as much : ) Please tell me if you do, it makes my day a little happier. Also, if there's anyway I can improve, or something you don't like, I'll be as equally happy hearing that too! Poor Hitsugaya. Isn't Aizen so evil? Mwahahaha…

Oh! Today I saw episode 1 of the anime with English dubs. XD It's so weird! Kon sounds strange in the preview and is it just me or does Rukia's speech seem a little…lethargic?

Anyway, thank you very much for reading!


	4. IV Four Chapters After the Beginning

**Chapter IV **– Four Chapters after the Beginning

The sun was up and light was streaming in through the window as tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro woke. His first thoughts upon waking were, _Oh my gosh, how much did I sleep in?_ The normally early riser was looking out the window to see the bright blue sky. Unohana had convinced him in her subtle way to stay the night in the fourth division quarters even though he insisted that he was fine. When he got that thought out of his head, another came. _Where the hell is all that noise coming from? _

Outside Hitsugaya could hear orders being yelled, very similar to the other morning, _The morning I couldn't protect her, _he thought.

He sat up, head still pounding, and put a hand to his forehead. The bandages were still there and he could feel a headache coming on. Not a good way to start a day. The outside noise was making it worse and even though he knew he should find out what was going on, frankly, right now he didn't care. Not until, that is, he heard Hinamori's name mentioned. In an instant he was alert, headache now just a dull throb in the back of his mind. There were more important things than mild discomfort. He made to the door and was just about to open it when—

'Hitsugaya-taichou!'

The door slid open infront of him and he looked up, as he usually does, to see his orange-haired lieutenant.

'Matsumoto!' he said, 'What's going on?'

'Ah! Taichou!' she exclaimed.

'Why didn't you wake me?' he asked. 'Who's taking care of all the fifth division papers?'

'Ah, about that… I got some of the others in our division to do it, since none of them wanted to wake you.'

_Not brave enough to wake you I should say._

'But Kyouraku-taichou told me to come get you... Taichou, Hinamori's been found.'

Hitsugaya suddenly felt like a bag of ice was dropped into his stomach and his eyes widened. 'Hinamori? Where?' and began down the corridor to the entrance.

'The eighth division office; she's with Kyouraku-taichou,' she replied, keeping his pace. 'Some of the fourth division have already gone to see her. She seems perfectly fine as usual. No injuries at all.'

'No,' said Hitsugaya,' Aizen wouldn't kidnap her for no reason. There must be something. I'm going to see her, and if Aizen has done anything… Matsumoto, you have to check all the fifth division papers. Make sure they're done properly!'

'Awwww, but taichou!' she whined.

'Do it Matsumoto.'

'Alright then,' she gave in, and slinked back to the tenth division.

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He walked along at a brisk pace towards the walls of the eighth division, when Hitsugaya saw a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he saw who she was, but she didn't seem to notice him, her attention directed at the ground in front of her. Hinamori didn't realise Hitsugaya was there until they got to the same point in the lane. The shock was there and her eyes even widened, but it was only for a split second until he re-composed herself.

'Ah, sumimasen,' she said and stepped aside to let him pass.

Hitsugaya was relieved to hear her voice again and see her safe, but at the same time was still worried.

'Hinamori, are you alright?'

'Mh,' she nodded. 'I'm fine.'

He wasn't convinced. 'No really, daijobu ka? What happened?'

'Daijobu, I have to see Ukitake-taichou later for an interview, but first I have to go and get the fifth division organised.'

'And you're sure you're fine with this?'

He stared into her eyes for what seemed like forever, for something, any sort of hint to reveal a lie, until she managed to pull her eyes away to stare at the ground.

'I can handle it. I'm sorry for causing you concern, Sh— Hitsugaya-taichou.' And with that, she hurried off down the lane.

He watched after her, their meeting coming as a blow. 'Hitsugaya-taichou?' he said to himself. Why did she call him that? What happened to Shirou-chan? Sure he despised the nickname, but why the sudden change?

'Perhaps,' he muttered, 'perhaps she's still in shock. Or is it something else?'

Aizen had something to do with it. He definitely knew that. But what did he do? Then a thought came to him.

_Was that even Hinamori or an impostor?_

He immediately tried to sense her reiatsu but by then she was already too far away and not using it. Hitsugaya dismissed the thought. Even Aizen would do a better impersonation than that. It wasn't exactly a secret in soul society that he and Hinamori were close, not that she was ever discreet about calling him 'Shirou-chan.'

'But then,' he thought. 'Maybe that's what Aizen wants me to think. If she were forcing herself to act friendly I would be able to tell, wouldn't I?'

He put a hand to his head and remembered his headache. The throbbing was becoming more violent with each new thought. 'I should get some rest,' he told himself. 'Whatever Aizen's done to Hinamori, I'll play along, for now.'

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Hinamori quickened her pace the rest of the way to the fifth division office. She wanted to put as much distance between her and Hitsugaya as possible. She finally reached the familiar wooden building walked down the corridor to the main office. Slipping her shoes off as she opened the door, she looked inside to see sitting behind the captain's desk, Aizen, sifting through stacks of papers.

The sight brought a faint smile to her lips as he spoke.

'My my, I expected the squad to be in shambles when I got here, but alas, I find everything neat and perfect.'

The smile slightly faded though, as the next line came out.

'Hitsugaya-kun must have put so much time and effort into this; I wonder how the tenth division is doing?

Hinamori thought for a moment.

_He had to burden all the extra work. My extra work. Who else would have done it? Ukitake-taichou is too ill, Kyouraku-taichou barely does his own, Unohana-taichou is busy, Komamura-taichou isn't very good with paperwork, I wouldn't dare ask Kuchiki-taichou, and the other captains definitely wouldn't help me._

Which got her thinking about the tenth squad,

_How is the tenth division going anyway? If Hitsugaya is busy all the time, who's going to maintain it? Matsumoto isn't exactly helpful when it comes to duties. What if something happens and they need him but he's to busy? That would be my fault then wouldn't it? Then Yamamoto-sama would blame him instead of me._

Aizen's voice interrupted before she could go any further.

'Hinamori-kun, I'm going to go for a rest. Masking my reiatsu is rather tiring.'

'Oh, of course, taichou,' she said, her eyes still staring into space. 'No-one knows you're here. I haven't told a soul.'

With that, he smiled, nodded curtly, and exited the room, leaving Hinamori on her own.

_To be continued_

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My apologies for taking so long. The holidays are now over and I have vehicle design diagrams to draw. On a happier note though, I re-watched the bleach musical : ) My favourite song has to be the final 'Sayonara.' (I don't really know the name of the song) But I always seem to find myself singing along with it. _Ashita wa kitto hallelujah. . .  
_

Keheh, anyway thanks for bearing with me and reading thus far! Hope you enjoyed it.


	5. V Chapter Six Comes Next

**Previously on ****"**When Dreams Become Real**"**

It was a normal sunny day until intruders managed their way into seireitei! That morning, after waking up from a terrible dream, Hinamori sees her former captain during the alarm and promptly faints after attacking him in disbelief. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya searches for her during the alarm eventually finding her in the arms of traitor, Aizen. In a sudden rage he attacks unsuccessfully, ending up in the fourth division medical house. Hinamori wakes up in Aizen's company and decides to make a resolve: to become more independent so she doesn't cause Shirou-chan any trouble. The said Shirou-chan wakes up the next morning finding out that Hinamori has returned, but what he doesn't know is that Aizen has come back as well. Plaguing his mind now is concern over Hinamori's state after calling him 'Hitsugaya-taichou' instead of 'Shirou-chan.' Why is this? He'll find out soon…

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**Chapter ****V **– Chapter Six Is Next

Hitsugaya tried to concentrate on his work. _Tried._ It wasn't working. Normally stacks of papers would be ok; tiring, but doable. But no matter what he did he just couldn't get himself to work out what he had to write. His vice captain wasn't helping very much either.

'Oh, taichooooooou!!!! You really do work too much. Come on, there's enough space for two on this couch you know.'

Yep, she was drunk.

Hitsugaya started to turn red; he was still a kid after all. 'Urusai! You, on the other hand, don't do enough work.'

He found himself staring at the paper but as much as he willed it, could not see the words.

'Oh, come on taichou, haven't you heard that too much work is bad for your health?' She continued whining.

He grumbled in an attempt to ignore his vice-captain.

There was a moment's silence, until it was broken. Three guesses as to who this was.

'Taichou?'

'Hmm?'

'You should get out more.'

Hitsugaya mumbled something about having to finish his papers when Matsumoto piped up again.

'I know! I've got the most brilliant idea!'

Hitsugaya felt that awful sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

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Hinamori took a few hesitant steps forward before stopping yet again.

_Was this right?_

But soon after she shook her head violently.

_Of course this was right._

Thoughts of her former captain strengthening her, she took another quiet step forward and peered around the corner. It was very dark out this night but she could still make out what she was seeing.

_No one there, so far so good_.

She flung around the corner got as close to the wall as she could, hoping her movements weren't seen, nor detected. Listening for a few seconds and deciding that it was safe, she continued forwards, still remaining glued to the wall. Her footsteps were light, barely making a sound. Her concentration was all focused to her ears, listening out for anything that would betray another shinigami's presence. Her eyes darted from one place to another, looking for something, anything.

She then saw the door. It looked ordinary enough. Wooden, with an ornate silver handle that had a crimson ribbon tied to it, but that was the only thing that gave it away as the door she was searching for.

_Exactly like his instructions._

Regardless of the door's deceptive appearance however, she knew just opening it would be unwise. Her former captain had to teach her the correct method of opening it in a short amount of time. It was lucky that she was so good at kidou.

Sure enough, it worked. The door swung open easily minus all of the locks and spells placed on it earlier and Hinamori breathed a deep sigh of relief. _Now for the hard part._

She crept in quietly, still wary of her surroundings. _Where could it be?_

The shadows of this room made it difficult to make out anything so she pressed onwards. Actually, that night Hinamori passed many interesting things but it was one in particular that she was after. She kept creeping along for what seemed like an age, until she finally reached it. It looked ordinary enough, however that was what she was after. Hinamori extended her arm to reach for the object…

----------------------------

Histugaya grumbled. Why did he have to come to this stupid thing? He had better things to do, like worrying himself silly over Hinamori.

The party was hosted by the eleventh division, who were currently in a circle trying to see who could keep a pencil stuffed up their nose the longest. Kenpachi kept calling out for drink after drink and Yachiru bounced around the room as she generally does. Currently, Ikkaku was winning the pencil-stuffing competition. Although, Yumichika was commenting on how the shade of blue he was turning 'didn't really suit him.'

Matsumoto quickly found her spot amongst the ruckus. She was sitting on a couch with Kira and Renji who were facing an opposing couch, home to Iba and Shunsui, between them, a coffee table covered with half-empty sake bottles and the surrounding floorspace littered with many more.

Hitsugaya didn't really know what to do. Seeing his comrades so irresponsible was disconcerting, yes, but there was nothing he could really do about it, so he resigned himself to leaning against a doorframe, just observing.

"Gahck!" Ikkaku had started spluttering, coughing and snorting, much to the amusement of the rest of the division. A loud roar went up over who was to pencil-stuff next and the process repeated.

Renji sprawled over his couch in a drunken stupor, much to Kira's discomfort. Why was there a reason for him not to be content? The crimson haired vice's authoritarian captain was spending the evening at the Kuchiki manor dutifully collating the guard's daily reports, which left Renji without duties for the next two days. Therefore, he had all evening to spend drunk with his former squad, but surely enough, there was a threat posed to this – Matsumoto was seemingly going to catch up in blood alcohol content. 'He couldn't let this happen!' the redhead thought and he snatched up another green bottle.

Yumichika's feather adorned eyes cast a lazy glance around the room. He had almost gotten bored at the gracelessness of the pencil-stuffers and was standing arms crossed next to Ikkaku's spluttering form. Then something caught his eye, which normally wouldn't have in this ruckus, except this thing was never usually a part of the ruckus.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" he called across the room.

The boy returned a steely glare which would have silenced most sane people. Unfortunately for him, most of the 11th division wasn't sane. Yumichika's call had attracted the attention of many of the room's occupants and they were all now aware of the seething tensai in the corner.

"Hitsugaya-chan," called one intoxicated participant, too delirious to know any better. "Come join in!" he yelled, holding up a long mucous coated writing instrument that had been in goodness knows how many peoples nostrils.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened slightly at the sight before narrowing dangerously, however before he could respond two shinigami had dragged him over to the grotesque circle of figures and pencils.

"Get your hands off me" he warned, but in their stupor they paid no heed. One already had the now unusable pencil precariously close to his face. He was about to wrestle himself free before he realized that two grown men had his arms pinned to his sides, laughing merrily. What he would do to them if he were free… how the hell did he get into this predicament anyway? He doesn't normally go to these kinds of things. Oh, that's right…

"Matsumoto!" the boy yelled, temper reaching boiling point. "Help me!"

The well endowed vice rolled over on the couch, sake bottle in hand and peered over the back. A cheery laugh escaped her lips. "I can't help you in a competition like _that,_ taichou!"

Hitsugaya was about to retort rather nastily when a presence of grace swept in through the ricepaper door. Hitsugaya looked over to the newcomer that slowly silenced the room. His captains haori disturbed the dirt on the floor as a slight breeze followed him in. He stood, shoulders broad, upright and proud, his robes perfectly pressed, not a crease in sight. Every hair remained in place in stark contrast to the room's ruffled occupants, a slight scent of cherry blossoms cut through the reek of alcohol however his face remained impassive showing nothing, not even disgust at what he saw. He just remained indifferent.

Renji choked at the sight of his captain.

Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes roamed the sight, most of which he would have expected, however Hitsugaya participating here? The boy mustn't be able to handle stress as well as he had thought.

The said boy wrenched himself out of the other men's grip and dusted off his robes just as Renji stumbled to attention. Byakuya cleared his throat before proceeding.

"I have come to inform you," his deep voice clearly stated, "that fifth squad fukutaichou Hinamori Momo is under the custody of the second division secret guard on the grounds of unlawful possession."

Hitsugaya was immediately alert. "Hinamori was caught stealing?"

Byakuya made his way to exit. "Correct," he confirmed, glancing back.

"She's with the second division?" Hitsugaya briskly walked towards the entrance. He had more pressing concerns now than the eleventh division and his fukutaichou's idiocy.

Byakuya nodded in reply before slowly whirling back around and stepping out of the alcohol seething room.

The short, disgruntled, grumpy and slightly shocked captain followed him. It was quite a combination, but what pressed his mind now was what his childhood friend had been up to, if it was her. The thought still hadn't escaped that she could be an impostor. She had acted so unlike herself earlier, still traumatized perhaps? It had to be. The mannerisms, expressions even the scent he sensed earlier, they were all hers.

_To be continued_

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It's been over a year since I've updated this, how time flies. Thank you to all the random reviewers between then and now, you're what motivated me, I suppose. I almost forgot how interesting writing can be. Please inform me of any errors though.


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